Explore every episode of the podcast Safety Labs by Safety Products Global
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixing Safety's Credibility with Craig Marriott | 05 oct. 2026 | 00:52:06 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Craig Marriott, a leading safety professional and author whose career spans consultancy and executive roles - so he understands both sides of the boardroom table. Why do leaders (and other areas of the business) often view safety as merely an obstacle to progress? How can the profession reverse this perception and gain recognition as a trusted asset? Craig identifies a number of unhelpful tendencies, including trying to reduce every risk, not appreciating the bigger picture and chasing the latest shiny solution. This uplifting conversation will help EHS professionals transition from technical expert to strategic leader by working better with operational teams, building more coherent messaging, and aligning safety strategy with business objectives. Find out more about Craig’s work (and subscribe to his blog): Safety Leadership for the Real World Craig’s book: Challenging the Safety Quo Good governance guide from the New Zealand Institute of Directors: Health and Safety: A good practice guide | IoD NZ Craig recommends: Craig Marriott on LinkedIn: Craig Marriott | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| The Balance of Power in Safety with Jessie Singer | 22 sept. 2026 | 00:50:42 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Jessie Singer, a journalist, keynote speaker, and author of a highly acclaimed book exploring ‘accidents’ including the tragic loss of a close friend. Jessie actually argues that there are no such things as accidents, and applies her considered reasoning specifically to workplace safety in this compassionate conversation. Why do safety investigations focus on individual actions and human error? Jessie considers this to be a fundamental oversight that is restricting learning and preventing harm prevention. Workers have the least power over workplace conditions - so the profession needs to explore the other end of the line. Jessie presents a compelling case for why safety managers must keep asking questions to uncover the real control over systems that enabled the outcome. Jessie’s ideas give EHS professionals a new perspective on keeping workers safe, revealing where power - and therefore harm prevention - really resides in workplace safety. Jessie’s book: There Are No Accidents a book by Jessie Singer Recommended by Jessie: Find out more about Jessie’s work: Jessie Singer Jessie Singer on LinkedIn:Jessie Singer | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Safety and Operational Excellence with Rob Fisher | 14 sept. 2026 | 00:55:37 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Rob Fisher, a globally recognized expert in operational excellence and process safety improvement. A sought-after executive mentor, speaker, and trainer, Rob is also a best-selling author and podcast host who shares his expertise with organizations around the world. Why does safety management often end up in a silo separated from mainstream business operations? Rob explains why building safety into work in conjunction with other functions will improve operational efficiency, reduce injuries, and strengthen organizational resilience. He explores safety’s relationship with operational excellence, and actually argues for less specific focus on making workplaces safer. As well as reframing safety in general, Rob shares his ideas for improving safety measurement, before highlighting the common challenges that desiloing can create. A key theme of this practical conversation is the need for better tools, and Rob introduces the Essential Leadership Cycle as a core framework and describes the 3 phases of deployment. This strategic conversation gives EHS professionals a more integrated and sustainable approach to keeping workers safe while enhancing organizational excellence.
Fisher Improvement Technologies - YouTube *If you join Fit Online and you find a paid course that would benefit you or one of your colleagues, send an email, and Rob will gift it to you! Contact emails: info@improvewithfit.com or rob.fisher@improvewithfit.com Rob’s book: Understanding Mental Models: Practically Applying Performance Modes, Systems 1&2, and GEMS: Fisher, Rob Rob’s podcast: Podcasts | Fisher Improvement Technologies Rob also recommends: Pre-Accident Investigations: Conklin, Todd Rob Fisher on LinkedIn: Rob Fisher | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Selling Safer Behaviors with Philip Franco | 08 sept. 2026 | 00:55:16 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Philip Franco, a safety manager at Amazon who transitioned into EHS following a successful career in sales. He applies the principles of influence and persuasion to safety leadership and has consolidated his ideas in a forthcoming book. Philip explains why safety professionals and salespeople have more in common than you might expect. Both roles rely on building rapport, understanding needs, creating stories, finding solutions, and handling objections. Instead of helping people’s mindset change from prospective to buyer, you help workers change from unsafe to safe behavior. A key focus for Philip is showing EHS professionals how these shared skills will gain commitment to safer practices without relying on traditional fear- or blame-based approaches. Recognising that ‘closing’ is one of the hardest parts of safety management, Philip shares lots of practical tools to influence attitudes to safety - at all organizational levels - in the workplace and create lasting behavioral change. This enlightening conversation gives safety professionals a clear understanding of the value of influencing skills and will make workplace safety a much easier sell. Philip’s book: Selling Safety: The Safety Leader's Handbook eBook : Franco, Philip A Philip also recommends:
Philip Franco on LinkedIn: Philip F. | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Rethinking Safety with Dave Whitefield | 24 août 2026 | 01:05:00 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dave Whitefield, a safety and risk culture specialist and consultant with over 30 years of experience across a wide range of roles and industries. Is our current framing of safety holding the profession back? Dave Whitefield invites us to rethink safety - moving beyond the focus on preventing harm and fixing issues. Instead he advocates putting people at the center and helping them make better risk decisions more often. After exploring the importance of building safety and risk culture maturity, Dave examines the psychological, ethical, cultural and linguistic forces that shape organizations' approaches to safety. He shares some great practical guidance, including how shifting language from safety to risk can transform safety cultures. This thought-provoking conversation gives EHS professionals an alternative perspective to help them increase effectiveness without doing more safety. Find out more about Dave’s work: People and Risk- Culture Risk Leadership Dave recommends Ben Hutchinson’s website and podcast: SafetyInsights.org – Home of safety & risk research summaries Safe As: A thrifty analysis of safety, AI and risk - YouTube Resources from Dr. Robert Long: And the following books: Dave Whitefield on LinkedIn: Dave Whitefield | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| A Systems Approach to Safety with Simon Whiteley | 17 août 2026 | 01:01:59 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Simon Whiteley, a system safety engineering and accident analysis specialist who helps organizations uncover critical safety issues. Traditional safety approaches often focus on events and failures, but Simon explains how system safety engineering takes a different approach. It changes the emphasis to look at how systems are controlled to identify a wider range of potential weaknesses, including more subtle factors that get overlooked. He reveals that you can actually have ‘dangerous successes’ - where systems work exactly as planned, but a specific situation or context could lead to an unintended outcome.
This insightful conversation gives EHS professionals a new perspective on managing controls, assessing risk and preventing future safety incidents.
Simon’s YouTube channel: Whiteley-Safety STAMP/STPA/CAST Case Study Workshop: Workshop Waitlist Simon Whiteley on LinkedIn: Simon P P Whiteley | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Underutilized Levers For Safety with Adam Johns | 10 août 2026 | 00:59:32 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Adam Johns, a risk consultant with Marsh (the global insurance broker), who brings extensive experience from aviation and rail, where he strengthened systems and cultures in safety-critical environments. Are safety practitioners learning enough from other industries, or are they generally operating within their own sector’s traditional boundaries? Adam explores how the profession could improve by looking beyond their own industries, including using the underutilized lever of insurance. He shares many practical approaches to enhancing workplace safety, including: prioritizing the safety of work over safety work, creating just cultures, using language that encourages curiosity rather than judgement, and rethinking the measurement of safety. This generous and valuable conversation even finishes with Adam sharing an underutilized gift EHS professionals could potentially access to significantly increase their ability to keep workers safe. Online resources recommended by Adam: Safety and Risk Management | Energy Institute
Books that Adam recommends: Adam Johns on LinkedIn: Adam Johns | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| The Unwritten Ground Rules of Safety with Steve Simpson | 03 août 2026 | 00:57:38 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Steve Simpson, an international workplace culture consultant, speaker and author, who has been helping organizations understand and transform their cultures for over three decades. Why does the profession have so much difficulty measuring and understanding safety culture? Are safety practitioners missing something??
He explains how they shape “the way things are done” in organizations and why these hidden beliefs and expectations can have a powerful impact on behaviors, decisions and attitudes to risk.
This practical conversation gives listeners a new perspective on cultural learning and change that will help organizations close the gap between stated safety values and actual workplace practices. Learn more about Steve’s work: Steve Simpson – Workplace Culture & UGRs® Steve’s books: And Steve also recommends: Steve Simpson on LinkedIn: Steve Simpson | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Proactive Safety Management with Gretchen Haskins | 27 juil. 2026 | 01:01:19 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Gretchen Haskins, an internationally recognized human factors expert and safety leader with extensive experience improving performance in aviation and other safety-critical industries. Is the profession spending too much time looking backwards, managing safety reactively, and overly focusing on compliance, incidents, and corrective actions? Gretchen wants safety professionals to shape strategy rather than fix issues. Drawing on her background in human factors, she explores how understanding the critical everyday tasks undertaken by workers will help identify opportunities to design the risk out of safety systems. Creating a powerful context, finding a common safety purpose and building action plans are just some of the initiatives that Gretchen has used to enhance safety in her successful career. This uplifting conversation gives EHS professionals practical guidance to expand their outlook, knowledge, collaboration, and influence to proactively make their organizations safer. Learn more about Gretchen and her organisation’s work: HeliOffshore Resources Gretchen recommends: Being Human in Safety-Critical Organisations eBook : Gregory, Dik, Shanahan, Paul Learning from normal work | IOGP Publications library Gretchen Haskins on LinkedIn: Gretchen Haskins | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Are Safety Metrics Enhancing Safety? With Corrie Pitzer | 20 juil. 2026 | 01:04:50 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest talks with Corrie Pitzer, a consultant who specializes in safety transformation in high-risk organizations and is regarded as a leading expert on culture, risk management, and leadership. Corrie addresses the profession's dependence on traditional safety metrics like injury rates, arguing they provide ‘dirty information’ - an inappropriate and inaccurate proxy for the safety of a workplace. He explores the critical internal conflict within safety between old and new approaches, and explains why this duality is having such a profound effect on the industry. Better tools, techniques and deeper understanding of psychometry and psychology are offered as practical solutions to this impasse. Corrie argues that our definition of safety is the key contextual issue at the root cause of safety management’s lack of progress. He redefines what safe looks like and believes this new perspective will help EHS professionals rethink how they measure, manage, and enhance safety in today’s complex workplaces. Find out more about Corrie’s work: safemap.com The safety conference that Corrie founded: safetyontheedge.com Corrie Pitzer on LinkedIn: Corrie Pitzer | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Developing Non-technical Safety Skills with Anna Keen | 13 juil. 2026 | 00:54:15 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Anna Keen, a consultant who began her career recruiting safety professionals and now focuses on developing their non-technical skills so they can become even more effective at making workplaces safer. Anna’s had a front-row seat to safety’s recent evolution, so is perfectly placed to analyze the EHS professionals’ changing personality type, role, and skill set over the last two decades. The profession has (mostly) moved on from the safety cop mentality based on rule enforcement, blame and fixing, as organizations seek deeper learning, greater collaboration and more proactivity to ensure workers go home safely. But how do safety managers, who have previously focused on technical skills, develop the capabilities to support this transition? In this forward-thinking conversation, Anna shares practical insights on how EHS professionals can develop the human attributes - including emotional intelligence, curiosity, self-awareness and influence - to support modern safety leadership. Find out more about Anna’s work: Anna Keen Consulting Ltd Resources recommended by Anna: The Learning List Anna’s podcast: Aunty Treacle that crowdsources support to help you get unstuck. Anna Keem on LinkedIn: Anna Keen | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Lessons from Healthcare Safety Management with Dr. Anne Lyren | 06 juil. 2026 | 01:07:05 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dr. Anne Lyren, the Chief Medical and Strategy Officer for the Children's Hospitals Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS Network) - a pediatric healthcare safety collective of over 150 hospitals across North America. Anne discusses the challenges of improving worker safety alongside patient care, sharing her organization’s inspiring evolution from safety standardization to systemic learning. She explains why employee safety was harder to improve than patient safety in this complex workplace environment with many competing priorities, and reveals how they were eventually able to make meaningful progress. Understanding worker adaptation and addressing workplace culture were both key changes of approach, and Anne shares many more practical strategies and tactics to help EHS professionals improve workplace safety at their organizations. Find out more about Anne’s work: Solutions For Patient Safety | Children's Hospitals Working Together to Eliminate Harm Anne recommends exploring the work of: Dr. Anne Lyren on LinkedIn: Anne Lyren, MD, MSc | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Fixing the Foundations of Safety with Clive Lloyd | 29 juin 2026 | 00:59:49 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Clive Lloyd, a renowned psychologist specializing in safety leadership and culture development, best-selling author, and founder of GYST Consulting. Clive returns to Safety Labs with even more evidence that trust is the fundamental driver of safety management success. Where there are low levels of trust, there will be high levels of fear. Workers won’t report issues, so there will be no learning and no progress - as safety managers can’t fix a secret. To solve this underlying issue, he introduces the 3 Cs model of trust - care, character, and competence - as foundations of authentic leadership and just cultures. There is a rallying call for organizations to reassess their context, including policies, procedures, systems, and governance, rather than trying to fix workers. This conversation gives EHS professionals compelling and game-changing guidance on building psychological and psychosocial safety, while creating caring - and safer - workplaces. Find out more about Clive’s work: Leadership, Psychological Safety & Culture Programs | GYST Clive’s best-selling book: Other resources Clive recommends for safety professionals: Book List | GYST Leadership & Culture Insights He also encourages you to explore the work of Ben Hutchinson: SafetyInsights.org – Home of safety & risk research summaries Clive Lloyd on LinkedIn: Clive Lloyd | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Securing Senior Support for Safety with François Barton | 22 juin 2026 | 01:05:48 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest talks with François Barton, CEO of the Business Leaders Health and Safety Forum in New Zealand - someone who knows exactly how to speak ‘executive’ and how leaders view workplace safety. Effective safety management is very challenging when it simply doesn’t have the budget required to implement meaningful change. François thinks that HSE managers can build stronger executive support by aligning safety initiatives with the bigger business picture. He encourages you to get familiar with organizational complexity and direction of travel and focus communication on context rather than content. Sound judgment is preferable to a ‘passion for safety’ as François shares examples of how linking safety to the organization's objectives secured executive buy-in and created significant improvements. This uplifting interview gives EHS professionals practical strategies to influence decision-makers and secure much-needed support for effective safety management. Learn more about François’ work: Business Leaders Health & Safety Forum Recommended reading: Health and Safety Governance: A Good Practice Guide François Barton on LinkedIn: Francois Barton | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Investigating Workplace Harassment with Dave Rebbitt | 15 juin 2026 | 00:57:57 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dave Rebbitt, one of Canada's most respected EHS professionals, who is also a safety consultant and best-selling author. Workplace harassment, bullying, violence, and toxic environments are now finally getting the attention they deserve. But are organizations managing harassment investigations effectively? And how can safety managers enhance this process?? Dave decided to specialize in this area after recent legislation changes and discovering there was minimal practical guidance available to the safety profession. Drawing from his extensive research resulting in his book, Harassment and Workplace Violence Investigations, Dave explores the unique and complex challenges, the different types of complaints, best practices for interviewing, and methods to assess credibility. Throughout this thoughtful discussion, he highlights the importance of balance, curiosity, fairness and emotional intelligence to give EHS professionals practical strategies to conduct effective investigations and foster safer, more respectful workplaces. Dave’s best-selling book: Harassment and Workplace Violence Investigations: A Practical Guide Learn more about Dave’s work: Rarebit Consulting - Safety Expert, Harassment Dave Rebbitt on LinkedIn: Dave Rebbitt, MBA, CRSP, C. Tech, CD | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Why Aren’t We Learning from Safety Incidents? with Gill Kernick | 08 juin 2026 | 00:52:15 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Gill Kernick, a consultant in high-hazard industries and author of Catastrophe and Systemic Change - a book she wishes she never had to write. It analyzes the Grenfell Tower fire, where Gill had previously lived. On the 14th of June 2017, she watched it burn. Seven of her former close neighbors died, in addition to 65 other people. She promised to make their lives count, so dedicates her work to ensuring that we learn better. Gill challenges EHS professionals to move beyond compliance and technical fixes toward embracing complexity, diversity and fostering genuine organizational learning. Her deeply considered insights offer a powerful call to action for meaningful systemic change that can prevent future accidents and transform how the safety profession impacts organizations and society. (Published on 18th June 2026, but is available for early ordering in the UK - and a small donation will be made to the Grenfell Foundation) Her blog about Grenfell. Grenfell Inquiry Reports: Publication of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry phase 2 report - GOV.UK Details on the Archives of all evidence: Records of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry - The National Archives Post Normal Science: Menagerie of Postnormal Potentialities | Post Normal Times Knowledge, power, and participation in the post-normal age - ScienceDirect Cynefin Framework: About - Cynefin Framework - The Cynefin Co Jose Torero (Link to a blog I wrote on this): ‘The real failure of Grenfell – complexity, ambiguity and competency.’ Prof. Torero Transcript – The Grenfell Enquirer The play 'Grenfell in the Words of Survivors': Grenfell: in the words of survivors | National Theatre LinkedIn profile: Gill Kernick | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Can AI and Human-Centered Safety Work Together? with Brent Sutton | 01 juin 2026 | 00:53:03 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Brent Sutton, a safety coach, author and practitioner with over 20 years’ experience, who focuses on worker engagement and operational learning in safety systems. With the rapid adoption of AI in the workplace, Brent explores how this technology will impact human-centred approaches to safety management. After assessing the evolution of Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) and evaluating some of its recent criticism, he argues that ethical AI tools are actually well-suited to help EHS professionals operationalize this philosophy. However, intent is key. Brent acknowledges that AI can just as easily be used to enforce more traditional approaches to safety due to its advanced monitoring and control capabilities. This delicate balance between operational learning and people blaming is the key theme: will AI be used in a sufficiently humanistic way to enhance HOP practices? Learn more about Brent’s work and test the AI safety tools: hopcopilot.com Brent Sutton on LinkedIn: Brent Sutton | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global
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| Better Safety Conversations with Daniel Hummerdal | 25 mai 2026 | 00:58:10 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Daniel Hummerdal, a psychologist who focuses on the role of humans in safety and organizational improvement. Drawing on insights from his new book, ‘An Invitation to Safety Conversations’, Daniel uncovers how dialogue closes the distance between leaders and workers, creating cultures where truth flows, partnerships develop, and safety performance improves. The interview offers fresh perspectives on safety leadership and the role of a safety professional, moving away from checklists, control and compliance towards curiosity, compassion and courage. Daniel shares his six types of conversations that uncover hidden risks, make sense of everyday work complexities, and help workplace safety become a collaborative effort. This episode invites EHS professionals to reconsider what safety work means and how they can learn and keep workers safe through more humanistic leadership. Learn more about Daniel’s book: An Invitiation to Safety Conversations Daniel also recommends: Humble Inquiry by Edgar H. Schein Daniel on LinkedIn: Daniel Hummerdal | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global
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| A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to Safety with Brandon Williams | 18 mai 2026 | 01:01:45 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Brandon Williams, a speaker, airline pilot and human factors professor with over two decades of experience leading teams in dynamic, complex and high-risk environments. He shares crucial safety lessons from his exhilarating career in aviation and introduces his Six Pillars of operational excellence as a framework for improving performance, strengthening decision-making and supporting learning in complex systems. The conversation explores how human factors are key to understanding incidents and why a just culture, supported by regular debriefing opportunities, will make workplaces safer. This episode provides EHS professionals with practical tools to make better decisions, advance human performance, and learn more effectively to drive not only safety, but organisational success. Learn more about Brandon’s work and services: Brandon Williams | Leadership Keynote Speaker Email Brandon: brandon@brandonwilliamsspeaker.com Brandon Williams on LinkedIn: LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global
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| A Balanced Approach To Safety with Trevor Farr | 11 mai 2026 | 00:48:10 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Trevor Farr, a safety manager who only joined the profession 5 years ago - so brings a fresh perspective to the Safety Labs podcast. Trevor advocates a blended approach to safety management, combining human understanding with rules and regulations. Leaning on HOP principles, Trevor challenges traditional accident investigation methods, emphasizing their limitations and the need for a broader, more inclusive inquiry process. He encourages safety practitioners to move beyond blame to foster genuine care and authentic relationships within organizations. Throughout the conversation, Trevor reflects on the evolving nature of safety management, sharing guidance on navigating complex systems by embracing curiosity, collaboration, and a learning-based approach that values multiple perspectives, especially from frontline workers. This episode helps EHS professionals discover a more humanistic path to keeping workers safe. The LinkedIn post featured in the show: LaGuardia Fire Truck Plane Collision: Human Performance Analysis Book recommended by Trevor: Next Generation Safety Leadership: From Compliance to Care: Lloyd, Clive Trevor Farr on LinkedIn: Trevor Farr, MEng, CSP | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global
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| The Human (and Animal) Side of Safety with Domini Montgomery | 04 mai 2026 | 01:01:07 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Domini Montgomery, who leads safety and risk management at St. Louis Zoo, offering a fascinating perspective grounded in biology, public health, and occupational safety. Domini shares compelling stories from managing safety where the needs of staff, animals, and the public intersect, including the pandemic’s contribution to raising awareness of the role of mental well-being in workplace safety. With a strong focus on trust, communication and collaboration, Domini explains how total worker health approaches foster engagement, innovation, and safer cultures. She offers valuable insights into integrating psychological safety and becoming a genuine changemaker in your organization. This episode provides EHS professionals with thoughtful strategies to enhance safety by embracing a human-centered approach that balances organizational mission with worker well-being. (And you’ll be glad you don’t have to consider animal-centered approaches as well!) Recommended resources for safety professionals: ASSP - American Society of Safety Professionals | ASSP Board of Certified Safety Professionals | BCSP Women in the Safety Profession Member Community | ASSP Domini Montgomery on LinkedIn: Domini Montgomery, MPH, ASP, CSP, CEAS | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global
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| Lessons From Retail Safety with Mark Gobert | 27 avr. 2026 | 00:42:47 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Mark Gobert, a seasoned retail safety expert with nearly 30 years of experience managing safety programs at major companies like Macy’s and Williams Sonoma. Mark reflects on how safety has evolved over his career and the specific challenges he faced in retail. He shares his innovative approach to translating the cost of injuries into business metrics that helped leadership appreciate the true costs and benefits of effective workplace safety. Throughout the conversation, Mark emphasizes the importance of listening to frontline workers, whose insights are crucial to effective safety solutions, and offers EHS professionals practical guidance on building credibility throughout your organization. Mark’s insights may come from his distinguished career in retail, but they offer universal wisdom for safety managers across all sectors. Mark Gobert on LinkedIn: Mark Gobert | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global
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| Why Safety Isn’t a Profession with Dr. Robert Long | 20 avr. 2026 | 01:03:46 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dr. Robert Long, founder of the social psychology of risk and an uncompromising voice in the world of safety. Drawing on over 50 years of experience across multiple careers, Rob delivers a forthright challenge to the safety industry’s status quo, even maintaining that it doesn’t deserve to be called a profession. “Nonsense” ideologies such as zero harm, and “meaningless” slogans like ‘blame fixes nothing’ are torn to shreds as Rob reveals safety’s ethical and educational deficiencies, and its lack of contextual awareness. He critiques the dominant technicist worldview - narrowly focused on engineering and regulation - and calls for a radical shift towards a person-centered, transdisciplinary approach embracing disciplines outside of safety’s comfort zone. This no-holes-barred interview will sound many alarm bells for safety ‘professionals’ who happily accept the current approaches to keeping workers safe. Find out more about Rob’s work: Human Dymensions - Dr Rob Long - Culture, Learning and Risk Social Psychology of Risk (SPoR) – The Social Psychology of Risk, Safety and Leadership Maturity Dr. Robert Long on LinkedIn: Robert Long | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global
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| Evaluating New View Safety with Mike Fears | 13 avr. 2026 | 01:01:11 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Mike Fears, who describes himself as a recovering academic and has more than 20 years of experience in occupational health and safety across multiple industries. This is a fascinating deep dive into New View Safety: its principles, how it developed, its originality and, most importantly, whether it improves safety outcomes. Mike evaluates the core tenets of this approach to help us uncover the validity of maxims such as ‘error is normal’, ‘blame fixes nothing’ and ‘workers should decide how work is done’. His research findings help us separate unrealistic assertions from useful applications. But context and nuance are always key! This episode gives safety professionals a balanced and measured perspective on New View Safety, encouraging thoughtful application of its ideas - rather than uncritical adoption or rejection. Learn more about Mike’s work: The Recovering Academic Recommended reading: Cooper, M. (2022). The emperor has no clothes: A critique of Safety-II. Safety Science, 152, 105047. Mike Fears on LinkedIn: Mike Fears – LinkedIn Profile
If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| A Passion for Safety Regulations with Brandy Zadoorian | 06 avr. 2026 | 00:53:50 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Brandy Zadoorian, a certified safety professional and CEO of Triangle Safety Consulting, who helps organizations build robust and sustainable safety programs through her expertise in regulatory compliance. Unusually, Brandy is a passionate supporter of workplace safety regulations and highlights OSHA’s key role in keeping workers safe in America. She addresses common misunderstandings about the agency’s purpose and approach before exploring the major citation trends. Brandy analyzes the effectiveness of fines as a compliance tool and stresses the importance of proactive safety training, especially for smaller businesses. In addition to robust regulations, she also emphasizes the critical need for thorough follow-up on corrective actions to protect your workforce and prevent repeat incidents. This compelling conversation will help EHS professionals work with regulatory agencies, build trust within your organizations, and improve safety programs before enforcement or penalties are necessary. Find out more about Brandy’s services and resources, including her OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 workbooks: Triangle Safety Consulting LLC The book recommended by Brandy: Basics of Occupational Safety, The: Amazon.com: Goetsch, David Brandy Zadoorian on LinkedIn: Brandy Zadoorian, CSP, CSD, LMSS | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global
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| Putting Safety Theory into Practice with Zoë Nation | 30 mars 2026 | 00:53:44 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Zoë Nation, a human factors and safety expert with over 25 years of design and implementation experience across rail, oil and gas, logistics, mining, marine, manufacturing, and aviation industries. Zoë challenges safety professionals to be more curious, move beyond ‘tribalism’, and adopt more context- and research-driven approaches to safety management: “There isn’t one right answer!” She highlights the common pitfalls organizations face when implementing change and emphasizes the importance of understanding the unique maturity and culture of your organization. Drawing on her extensive experience, Zoë stresses the critical role of end-user engagement, reminding EHS professionals that frontline workers don’t care about safety camps or jargon - they just need solutions based on their work realities. Throughout the conversation, Zoë shares practical tools and insights to help EHS professionals learn from the workforce, influence decision-makers, avoid common blind spots, and create effective safety systems that resonate across all levels of the business. Safety resources/authors recommended by Zoë: The Field Guide to Understanding 'Human Error': Amazon.com: Dekker, Sidney SafetyInsights.org – Home of safety & risk research summaries Global Safety Innovation Summit Zoë Nation on LinkedIn: Zoë Nation | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global
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| Understanding Disasters to Enhance Workplace Safety with Edward Tenner | 23 mars 2026 | 00:56:13 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Edward Tenner, a renowned author and lecturer at Princeton University, whose work explores the intersections of history, technology, and safety. Edward draws on his seminar “Understanding Disasters,” examining major events like the Titanic, the World Trade Centre, Fukushima and Covid to expose how hidden risks can break safety systems. He highlights how overlooked factors such as ‘gray rhinos’ and ‘mode errors’ have contributed to serious failures, demonstrating the unintended consequences of well-meaning safety measures. Through examples of expert decisions and system designs that didn’t work as intended, he encourages safety managers to vigilantly scan the horizon for subtle signals of weaknesses.. This episode offers EHS professionals practical insights and historical lessons that help you identify emerging hazards to make workplaces safer. Find out more about Edward’s work, books and essays: Edward Tenner - Welcome You can read Edward’s latest essay here: Are We Getting Dumber? - Milken Institute Review Other books recommended by Edward: Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and the Spanning of America: Petroski, Henry Normal Accidents – Living with High Risk Technologies: Perrow, Charles Edward Tenner on LinkedIn: Edward Tenner | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global
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| Embracing Neurodiversity in Workplace Safety with Sarah Ischer | 16 mars 2026 | 00:43:01 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Sarah Ischer, CIH, CSP, the Senior Director of Expertise at the What Works Institute, who recently published a ground-breaking report investigating neurodiversity in the workplace. Roughly 1 in 5 people are neurodivergent, meaning their brains process information, perceive hazards, or communicate differently. Yet many traditional safety programs still assume a single way of thinking. Sarah explores why neurodiversity isn’t given the same focus in the workplace as it now receives in the education system and highlights how this negatively impacts the well-being of your workers. She provides EHS professionals with practical and affordable tactics to improve workplaces for neurodiverse - and neurotypical - workers, giving you a new lens to enhance safety systems at your organization. Find out more about Sarah’s work: What Works Institute The full report into neurodiversity at work: Neurodiversity in EHS Sarah Ischer on LinkedIn: Sarah Ischer, CIH, CSP | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global
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| Expert Views on Safety 100th Episode Special | 10 mars 2026 | 00:54:47 | |
In this special 100th episode, we look back at the conversations that have shaped Safety Labs by Safety Products Global over the past 99 shows.
Inevitably, certain subjects have consistently shaped the conversations and sparked wider debate on LinkedIn - so you’ll find lots of firmly-held views on hot topics including safety theories, metrics, and blame; frank assessments of the role of EHS professionals, psychological safety and Heinrich; and emphatic statements on safety porn, Zero Harm, and safety culture.
Thanks for being part of the Safety Labs journey, and we hope you enjoy this celebration of its success - here’s to the next 100 episodes! Featured guests (in order of appearance):
Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Is Safety Learning the Right Lessons with Nippin Anand | 02 mars 2026 | 01:06:53 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Nippin Anand, an event investigation expert who founded a consultancy specialising in human-centred approaches to learning. Using the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster, Nippin examines how investigations often produce explanations that satisfy the need for closure but fail to reflect the complexity of events and help organizations actually learn. Drawing on social psychology, mythology and anthropology, Nippin challenges many “safety myths” including normal work, zero harm and the role of blame in the workplace. He encourages the safety profession to uncover deeper insights through surfacing the unconscious, using our three minds and focusing on intelligent cues in accident investigations. A key theme is that real learning lies in the tension, and Nippin argues for transdisciplinary thinking in safety, moving beyond root cause and corrective action towards context, meaning, individuality and uncertainty. This interview offers EHS professionals a more reflective approach to safety learning. Find out more about Nippin’s work: About Nippin - Nippin Anand Nippins’s book: Are We Learning from Accidents? Nippin’s consultancy (including knowledge space): Home - Novellus Solutions Recommended resources about the iCue (intelligent cues) process: Dr. Robert Long’s excellent work: Social Psychology of Risk (SPoR) Nippin Anand on LinkedIn: Nippin Anand | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| A Regulator’s Perspective on Improving Safety with Doug Parker | 23 févr. 2026 | 00:53:27 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Doug Parker, former US Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, whose illustrious career has spanned labor law, federal and state oversight, worker advocacy, policy leadership and consultancy.
The conversation explores how trust shapes the relationship between regulators and organizations, why engagement matters and how fear of enforcement can limit learning and transparency. Doug also reflects on the constraints regulators operate under and what that means in practice.
Find out more about OSHA: Home | Occupational Safety and Health Administration California State OSHA resources and templates: Cal/OSHA - Division of Occupational Safety and Health - Home Page Worker-focused global resources Doug recommends: Hesperian Health Guides | Knowledge for Action - Action for Health
Contact Doug directly: dougparker1@gmail.com Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Bootstrapping Workplace Safety with Shawn Connick | 16 févr. 2026 | 00:38:12 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Shawn Connick, a safety consultant with decades of experience across construction and energy.
Discover how to effectively implement learning teams, ensuring safety is aligned with production and quality, insights emerge before workers get hurt, and your organization improves in all these areas together. Shawn emphasizes the importance of building ‘safety fluency’, helping leaders understand that organizational change is the key to creating safer workplaces. This episode gives EHS professionals invaluable guidance on making new safety approaches work in practice - and on a limited budget. Find out more about Shawn’s consultancy work: Shawn Connick Construct Strategies Books recommended by Shawn: - Todd Conklin’s: The 5 Principles of Human Performance - Bob Edwards and Andrea Baker’s: Bob's Guide to Operational Learning - Edgar Shein’s: Humble Inquiry Podcasts recommended by Shawn: PreAccident Investigation Podcast | Todd Conklin Shawn Connick on LinkedIn: Shawn Connick, CSP | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Redefining Safety Success with Dr. Todd Loushine | 09 févr. 2026 | 00:59:00 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dr. Todd Loushine, an Associate Professor, EHS professional, scientist and Data Analytics enthusiast who has extensively researched how we track safety. Todd challenges the profession’s reliance on familiar aspirations and indicators, questioning whether established goals and metrics actually enhance workplace safety. In this stimulating interview, he explores the current balance between compliance and people, and shares his extensive critical analysis of the data we rely on to measure performance. Other big-picture questions, such as safety’s role and alignment within an organization, also come under the spotlight. Todd pushes EHS professionals to raise ambitions for safety. He urges you to think more deeply and critically about metrics, while broadening your perspective beyond hazards to a more empathetic approach. Resources recommended by Todd: Home - Safety On The Edge Conference SafetyInsights.org – Home of safety & risk research summaries Dr. Todd Loushine on LinkedIn: Todd William Loushine, PhD, PE, CSP, CIH | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Getting Back to Safety Basics with Lori Guasta | 02 févr. 2026 | 00:48:40 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Lori Guasta, a safety leader whose career spans frontline practice, academia and consultancy. Lori reflects on the profession’s obsession with the next shiny object, even though the fundamentals that support safe work have been understood for decades. She explains that chasing the latest silver bullet will actually distract organizations from doing safety well. Leadership development and cultural change are key themes throughout this inspiring conversation; however, Lori’s experience allows her to cover many important areas, including generational change and women’s role in workplace safety.
Explore the life’s work of Edgar Schein: Edgar H. Schein: books, biography Lori Guasta on LinkedIn: Lori Guasta, Ph.D. | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| The Power of Words in Workplace Safety with Crista Vesel | 26 janv. 2026 | 01:01:42 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Crista Vesel, an academic, author and safety communication specialist whose work focuses on how language influences learning and decision-making in safety-critical environments. Crista explores why safety professionals often rely on familiar approaches even though they fail to produce meaningful learning. She explains how language used around incidents can steer inquiry in particular directions, narrowing what is explored and what gets left out. Drawing on her pioneering work on learning reviews, Crista explains how certain language patterns can unintentionally shut down inquiry, reinforce blame and limit understanding. She contrasts this with approaches that support open and collaborative dialogue to give organizations deeper understanding of workplace safety. This conversation offers EHS professionals practical insight into using language more deliberately, strengthening insights after events and creating cultures where workers share and organisations learn. The Masters of Engineering program where Crista teaches: Graduate | Advanced Safety Engineering and Management Her (open access) thesis on agentive language: Language Bias in Accident Investigation Crista and Ivan’s book: Human & Organization Potential Find out more about their work: Dynamic Inquiry | All change starts with a question Kenneth Gergen’s book recommended by Crista: An Invitation to Social Construction Crista Vesel on LinkedIn: Crista Vesel, MSc | LinkedIn Ivan Pupulidy on LinkedIn: Ivan Pupulidy, PhD | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Broadening Your Approach to Workplace Safety with Dr. Simon Goncharenko | 19 janv. 2026 | 01:01:34 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dr. Simon Goncharenko, a respected thought leader and author on a mission to make safety management theory more accessible. He examines why many organizations continue to rely on specific philosophies, frameworks and metrics to manage safety, even as serious injuries and fatalities remain stubbornly high. He questions what established measures, such as TRIR, tell us and where they can distract attention from more meaningful risk. Known for challenging narrow thinking in safety management, Simon revisits key concepts, including behavior-based safety and safety culture, highlighting the crucial gaps between theory and practice. Throughout the interview, Simon returns to a central theme: safety is not a single-solution challenge. He encourages EHS professionals to broaden their approach, push boundaries and resist over-reliance on specific ideas. Safety is a journey, not a destination. Simon’s safety management books: Save Lives: Pushing Boundaries in Human Factors Operationalizing Twenty-First Century Safety Find out more about Simon’s work: Save Lives Global – Safety Consulting Dr. Simon Goncharenko on LinkedIn: Dr. Simon G. | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| The Dangers of Safety Incentives with Diane Chadwick-Jones | 12 janv. 2026 | 00:52:44 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Diane Chadwick-Jones, a former BP safety leader and long-time researcher whose work has shaped how organizations think about safety incentives. Diane explains why linking pay and bonuses to injury rates often creates unintended consequences, including suppressed reporting and reduced learning. Drawing on years of internal and external research, she shows how incentives can reinforce belief systems that feel right but undermine safety in practice. She shares how BP and other high-hazard organizations have moved away from injury-based bonuses, what replaced them and why peer recognition, transparency and supportive leadership matter more than annual rewards. This conversation offers EHS professionals practical insight into influencing senior leaders, changing belief systems over time and building conditions where people feel safe to speak up about problems before they escalate. Diane’s published research on safety incentives: Rewarding safety performance: Improving safety or maintaining beliefs? Find out more about Diane’s work: Diane Chadwick-Jones / Safety Leadership / Human Performance Energy Institute videos Diane recommends: The modern view of incident causation
Safety leadership in the field
Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Making Sense of Evolving Safety Approaches with Leslie Rex Stockel | 05 janv. 2026 | 01:00:52 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Leslie Rex Stockel, Associate Professor of Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology at Oklahoma State University and a long-time leader in safety education. Drawing on decades of experience and teaching, Leslie reflects on how safety ideas evolved from Taylor and Heinrich to behavior-based safety and human performance. And assesses the impact of approaches like safety third. She questions whether leaders are patient enough to give new approaches a chance and warns against the profession’s tendency to chase silver bullets rather than focusing on sustained incremental improvement. Leslie explores the growing imbalance between cultural and technical safety, warning that strong people skills cannot compensate for weak technical foundations.
OSHA’s website: Home | Occupational Safety and Health Administration ASSP website: ASSP - American Society of Safety Professionals Leslie Rex Stockel on LinkedIn: Leslie Rex Stockel, PhD, CSP, SMP, FASSP | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| How Sociology Can Help Safety with Martijn Flinterman | 29 déc. 2025 | 01:11:07 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Martijn Flinterman, a sociologist, researcher and author, specializing in how organizations deal with safety. Drawing on the work of Niklas Luhmann, Martijn challenges many assumptions that underpin traditional safety management. He explores why focusing primarily on accidents can obscure crucial safety insights, and why categories such as “safe” and “unsafe” often create blind spots. Martijn explains how systems manage risk through distinctions, narratives and routines, and how these can unintentionally suppress reflection, dissent and learning.
This wide-ranging discussion offers EHS professionals a sociological lens to better understand complexity, challenge comfortable assumptions and create space for critical reflection in safety systems. Learn more about Martijn’s work: Unter Soziologen / Among Sociologists Martijn’s book featured in this interview: Managing Safety in Complexity Luhmann’s most accessible writing: Introduction to systems theory : Luhmann, Niklas, 1927-1998 Martijn also recommends the sociologist Stefan Kuhl: Stefan Kühl – Uklitag Martijn Flinterman on LinkedIn: Martijn Flinterman | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Enhancing Safety Through Design Thinking with Ben Goodheart | 22 déc. 2025 | 00:51:01 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Ben Goodheart, a human-centred safety consultant and podcast host who advocates a design thinking mindset to improve safety outcomes. Ben introduces EHS professionals to the concept of design thinking and its practical application in workplace safety. He explores the importance of workers’ experiences, small-scale experiments and incremental change - and how these alternative approaches can positively impact your organization. He shares cool real-world examples of how design thinking has driven greater safety success and provides actionable guidance to replicate this in your workplace. You’ll also discover what Ben wants you to focus on instead of technical knowledge, how “safety improv” can help and why it’s good to be comfortable with uncertainty. Learn more about Ben’s work: Magpie Human Systems Listen to Ben’s safety podcast: Punk Rock Safety The Empathy Map Ben suggested: Empathy Map - XPLANE Ben recommends this website: IDEO - A Global Design & Innovation Company Ben Goodheart on LinkedIn: Ben Goodheart, Ph.D. | LinkedIn Contact Ben: bgoodheart@safetyforhumans.com Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Helping Workers Make Safer Decisions with Aaron Potash | 15 déc. 2025 | 00:48:56 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Aaron Potash, an experienced EHS Design Program leader with a background in emergency response and diving instruction. Drawing parallels from these two high-pressure, unpredictable environments, Aaron explores why rule-heavy approaches often fail to support real-world decision-making. He explains how practice, repetition and exposure to realistic scenarios - rather than regulations - are key to helping people develop resilience and reliable judgement. This wide-ranging interview provides practical tools rooted in trust, curiosity and open communication to help EHS professionals support workers in making safer decisions. Find out more about Aaron’s work: Original Oaktown Divers Books recommended by Aaron: Humble Inquiry by Edgar H. Schein Aaron Potash on LinkedIn: Aaron Potash, CSP | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Suicide Prevention in the Workplace with Donna Carter | 08 déc. 2025 | 00:58:31 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Donna Carter, a psychology-informed transformational safety consultant with extensive experience of suicide prevention in remote workplace situations. Drawing on compelling stories from her frontline work, Donna discusses the complex challenges of suicide prevention and how EHS professionals can support workers in this extremely sensitive area. She explores the key roles of trust, education and community and warns us that leadership decisions and messages can influence workers’ mental wellbeing in ways organisations may not anticipate. Donna’s wisdom offers safety professionals crucial guidance on what genuine care requires in practice and how humanising safety can make a meaningful difference for people who may be struggling. This powerful conversation raises difficult but necessary questions and encourages you to look beyond physical risks to protect lives. Find out more about Donna’s work: Home | The Person Factor Get in touch with Donna via email: donna@thepersonfactor.co.nz Recommended suicide prevention resources: Black Dog Institute | Better Mental Health | Science. Compassion. Action. Donna Carter on LinkedIn: Donna Carter | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Teaching Real-World Safety with Dr. Ashley Gill | 01 déc. 2025 | 00:42:35 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dr. Ashley Gill, an experienced safety consultant whose passion for developing the next generation of EHS professionals led her to teaching. Through her work educating the next generation of EHS professionals, experienced practitioners and engineers, Ashley has firsthand knowledge of the habits, assumptions and gaps that shape how students understand safety. She shares stories from the classroom and explores the importance of teaching safety principles to professionals in adjacent roles. Ashley explores how OHS education has evolved over recent years and how it can improve even further. She recognizes that certain elements including non-physical psychosocial risks, soft skills and wider culture enhancement should be key areas of focus going forward.
Find out more about Ashley’s consultancy work: ERM - Environmental Resources Management Learn more about WISE: Women in the Safety Profession Member Community | ASSP Ashley highly recommends the work of Sydney Decker: Sidney Dekker: Safety Differently Dr. Ashley Gill on LinkedIn: Ashley Gill, DBA, CSP | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Jake Mazulewicz’s Practical Guide to Enhancing Safety | 24 nov. 2025 | 00:53:22 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Jake Mazulewicz, a former firefighter, EMT and paratrooper, who is now a Human Reliability consultant and author. Jake translates ideas from Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) and High Reliability Organizations (HRO) into clear, practical actions EHS professionals can use on the job. He explains why incidents rarely have a single root cause and shows you how to learn from accidents without blame, strengthen team performance, and build resilience so mistakes don’t disable operations. Jake shares many helpful safety enhancement ideas including balancing control-based and learning-based approaches, active vs latent errors, and separating the error from its consequence. Jake also tackles myths about psychological safety, outlines different review types, and highlights classic defenses - which have been keeping workers safe for decades. This interview is packed with actionable steps you can implement immediately. Jake’s company: JMA Human Reliability Strategies Jake’s book: Seven Practical Steps: How to Build Reliability, Safety, and Trust in Technical Teams Jake Mazulewicz on LinkedIn: Jake Mazulewicz, Ph.D. | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global
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| The Ever-Changing World of Construction Safety with Fred Sherratt | 17 nov. 2025 | 00:51:19 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dr. Fred Sherratt, a world-leading academic in the field of construction safety and the founder of Straight Talk Safety. Drawing on her decades of experience and research, Fred explains why safety in construction is never static, and why, at its heart, safety is a people’s game.
Fred also explores why measuring “safety culture” misses the point, arguing that safety is continually recreated through human relationships and shared understanding. Her perspective and wisdom offer highly practical ways to make systems more adaptable, guide teams effectively, and build trust in complex workplaces. Fred’s company: Straight Talk Safety Fred’s book: Unpacking Construction Site Safety Dr. Fred Sherratt on LinkedIn: Fred Sherratt | LinkedIn
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| Making Safety Research Useful with Dr. Matt Law | 10 nov. 2025 | 00:42:59 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Dr. Matt Law — certified safety professional, researcher, strategist, author, and podcast host. Matt explores why safety research often fails to actually help EHS practitioners in the workplace. He breaks down what makes research “bad,” the roles of qualitative and quantitative methods, and how statistical findings can be better translated for real-world use. Dr. Law also discusses academic limitations, the communication barriers caused by paywalls and jargon, and how digital platforms — from podcasts to TikTok — are changing the way research reaches safety professionals. This interview is packed with practical advice for practitioners to evaluate research critically, stay curious, and collaborate with researchers to measure what really works in practice. Matt’s podcast: Prove It To Me - Real Research, Real Data, No BS | Dr. Matt Law Learn more about Matt’s work: Dr. Matt Law | Explore Proven Environmental, Health, and Safety Strategies Matt currently serves on the Board of Directors for the: Society for Total Worker Health Dr. Matt Law on LinkedIn: Matt Law, DrPH, CSP, REHS | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global If you have any questions, please email us at safetylabs@safetyproducts.global | |||
| Contracting Safely with Ron Gantt | 03 nov. 2025 | 00:55:50 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Ron Gantt, Vice President of EHS at Beal Infrastructure and a leading voice in safety management. Ron helps safety professionals navigate the challenges of working with contractors, where hidden coordination costs and fragile common ground often undermine safety. He explains why contractors add complexity, how authority differentials distort information flow and risk, and why coordination needs to be treated as real work. Ron introduces practical approaches to build stronger relationships, from co-locating teams and aligning work hours to asking the unexpected question: “How do we want to argue together?”
Beyond contractors, he also shares valuable advice to help EHS professionals move away from regulations or best practices and thoughtful guidance on truly understanding how people work.
Sarah Butt Safety podcast co-hosted by Ron: Ron Gantt on LinkedIn: Safety Labs is created by Safety Products Global, the world's leading manufacturer of safety knives. Through our trusted brands, Klever, Slice and PHC, we empower companies to prevent injuries by providing safer cutting tools for every material and application. Find us at www.safetyproducts.global
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| Expert Views on Safety Theories | 02 oct. 2023 | 00:58:12 | |
In this episode, we’re conducting a thorough investigation of the different theories and frameworks Safety professionals can adopt to keep their co-workers safe. There’s been a palpable shift in attitudes towards workplace safety over recent years, with multiple more-human-centred approaches emerging. But their key differences and relative effectiveness often polarize the safety profession. We’ve compiled a collection of clips from 16 of our previous guests to help define the the different approaches, including:
And also bring some clarity to the ongoing debate about which philosophy is best.
Pam Walaski (Episode 66): Changing attitudes to Safety Josh Bryant (Episode 26): The 3 key principles of Safety Differently Moni Hogg (Episode 39): Defining New View Safety? Andrea Baker (Episode 13): An understanding of what Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) means Bob Edwards (Episode 53): Does HOP lack accountability? Stephen Scott (Episode 28): Adopting Critical Risk Management Jodi Goodall (Episode 67): The High-Reliability Organization (HRO) framework Clive Lloyd (Episode 44): The problem with Behavior-Based Safety Murray Ritchie (Episode 72): In defense of Behavior-Based Safety Tim D’Ath (Episode 61): An alternative to Behavior-Based Safety Andrea Baker (Episode 13): Comparing Safety Theories Elisa Lynch (Episode 14): New View versus traditional Safety James MacPherson (Episode 64): Bickering over Safety labels Carsten Busch (Episode 76): Is there an ideal blend of Safety approaches? Dr Linda Martin (Episode 22): The problem with Safety theory Elisa Lynch (Episode 14): Are Safety approaches debates helpful? Murray Ritchie (Episode 72): Get rid of the Safety labels Dr Todd Loushine (Episode 74): Welcoming Safety ideas Sam Goodman (Episode 27): Respecting our Safety predecessors Pam Walaski (Episode 66): Safety evolution Safety Labs is created by Slice, the only safety knife on the market with a finger-friendly® blade. Find out more: www.sliceproducts.com
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| The Safety Profession’s Disconnect Between Process and Purpose | 18 sept. 2023 | 00:47:18 | |
In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Greg Smith, an international award-winning author and qualified lawyer who has spent more than two decades specializing in Safety and Health management. Greg is also regarded as a leading provider of Safety training, particularly in the areas of management responsibilities and contractor safety management. Describing himself as ‘Safety agnostic’, Greg doesn’t care how HSE professionals approach Workplace Safety - he just wants to help you be effective. However, he knows how challenging this can be and explains why Safety is a ‘wicked problem’ that is essentially unsolvable. Gregs discusses the impact of legal frameworks on Safety Management and shares real-life examples of the unintended consequences of the criminalization of Safety. Safety processes and measurement are the key themes of this fascinating conversation, as Greg highlights where the profession has become disconnected from its purpose and how this can be addressed. Greg’s highly acclaimed book: Paper Safe Greg recommends the following podcasts: Also this subscription service: OHS Alert | Premium Workplace health and safety news And Ben Hutchinson’s research: Ben Hutchinson | LinkedIn Greg Smith on LinkedIn: Greg Smith | LinkedIn Safety Labs is created by Slice, the only safety knife on the market with a finger-friendly® blade. Find out more: www.sliceproducts.com
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| Expert views on Measuring Safety | 11 sept. 2023 | 00:53:11 | |
In this episode, we’re conducting a thorough investigation of Safety metrics to help HSE practitioners measure (and manage) the factors that most accurately reflect Safety performance. We’ve compiled a collection of thoughts, opinions and ideas about safety data, analysis and reporting from 19 of our previous guests discussing various aspects of this diverse and divisive subject. Many question the existing reliance on lagging indicators and proxy KPIs, while the value of Zero Harm initiatives is particularly challenged. But what are the alternatives? Are they easily quantifiable, will they satisfy senior leaders, and where does psychological safety fit into this discussion? This Safety Measurement special features multiple perspectives on these crucial questions from experienced HSE professionals, consultants, authors and academics. We can’t promise definitive answers, but it will help you come to your own conclusions about Safety metrics - and how they can best keep your co-workers safe.
Safety Labs is created by Slice, the only safety knife on the market with a finger-friendly® blade. Find out more: www.sliceproducts.com
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